1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a supporting structure for supporting, for example, a reserve tank (also referred to as a brake reservoir tank), etc. disposed within an engine room of a vehicle for supporting the reserve tank on a vehicle body with a bracket.
2. Description of the Related Art
As disclosed in JP 2006-264429 A (paragraphs 0025, 0029, FIGS. 1 and 2), a conventional reserve tank (a brake reservoir tank) to be filled with a brake fluid is mounted on an inner wall surface of a vehicle body within an engine room through a bracket (holding bracket).
The bracket disclosed in JP 2006-264429 A includes a bottom wall part fixed to a lower surface of the reserve tank and extending in a substantially horizontal direction, a pair of left and right side wall parts extending upward from both ends of the bottom wall part, a protruding piece extending from one of the side wall parts in a substantially vertical direction and being fixed to the vehicle body there. The protruding piece of the bracket is fixed to a locking part formed on the reserve tank with a bolt and a nut.
When the bracket and the reserve tank are mounted, a rotational moment is generated which causes the bottom surface of the reserve tank to move downward in accordance with a friction force acting between the nut and the locking part of the bracket by rotationally operation on the nut to be screwed on the male thread of the bolt. This rotational moment rotates the bottom surface of the reserve tank together with the nut in such a direction that the bottom surface of the reserve tank is pressed on the bottom wall part of the bracket. Accordingly, the reserve tank can be held in a stable state on the bottom wall part of the bracket.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional reserve tank. FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounting state of the prior art reserve tank. FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part to show the mounting state of the conventional reserve tank.
The prior art reserve tank 200 shown in FIG. 8 forms a brake assembly with a hose 500, a master cylinder 600, and a negative pressure booster (not shown). The reserve tank 200 is mounted on a mounting part 310 of a bracket 300 fixed with a screw to an inner wall 110 within an engine room 100 to be supported. The reserve tank 200 is mainly formed with a tank body 210 made of resin, and a cap 220 for closing an opening of the tank body 210.
As shown in FIG. 9, formed on a lower surface side of the tank body 210 are a fixing piece 230 for fixation to the vehicle body, formed to protrude in a vehicle width direction, into which a bolt insertion hole 231 is formed, a locking claw 240 as a detent which is to be fitted into a locking hole 340 formed at the mounting part 310 of the bracket 300, and a coupler part 250 to which a connector of a tank liquid level sensor (not shown) is to be connected.
The coupler part 250 is formed on a lower surface part of the tank body 210, because the coupler part 250 is frequently installed on the lowest surface part of the tank body 210 for convenience of installing the liquid level sensor (not shown) for detecting a liquid level of the reserve tank 200.
The bracket 300 is a metal plate, having the locking hole 340, a mounting part 310 formed in a flat shape, a tank locking piece 320 having an insertion hole 321 into which a bolt 700 (see FIG. 8) for fixing the fixing piece 230 of the reserve tank 200 to the vehicle body is inserted, a mounting part 330 having bolt insertion parts 331 to which a pair of the bolts 700 (see FIG. 8) for bolt-fastening of the bracket 300 to the inner wall 110 in the engine room 100 (see FIG. 10) are formed.
The reserve tank 200 is placed on the mounting part 310 and fixed thereon by bolt-fastening the tank locking piece 320 formed at a tip side of the mounting part 310 to the fixing piece 230 and by bolt-fasting the bolt insertion part 331 of the mounting part 330 formed on a base end part of the bracket 300 to the inner wall 110 of the engine room 100.
As shown in FIG. 10, below the bracket 300, various cables and hoses are disposed. In the hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles, there may be a case where a power supply cable 400 of a high voltage is arranged in a vehicle front-rear direction such that the power supply cable 400 goes under the bracket 300 from a vehicle front direction.
However, in a case of the supporting structure of the reserve tank disclosed in JP 2006-264429 A (paragraphs 0025, 0029, FIGS. 1 and 2), a place to which the bracket (holding bracket) and the reserve tank are fixed is only at one place, i.e., the locking part.
Accordingly, in a case where a turn, etc., of the vehicle is made during traveling, the reserve tank may rotate by a rotational moment because the rotational moment is generated in such a direction that the reserve tank becomes apart from the bottom wall part of the bracket on an axis at a fastening point of the nut.
In addition, because the protruding piece of the bracket is disposed around a middle of the reserve tank, when the bottom wall part is formed on the bracket, a pair of left and right side wall parts are essential structural elements. Accordingly, there is a problem in that the bracket becomes heavy by weight of the side wall parts formed on both left and right sides of the bottom wall part with the result that a whole weight of the bracket becomes heavy.
In addition, the conventional reserve tank 200 shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 has the fixing piece 230 protrusively formed on a side surface of the tank body 210, and the locking claw 240 is formed on a lower surface of the tank body 210. Accordingly, there is a problem in that it is difficult to achieve a positioning accuracy in mounting the reserve tank 200 at a preset certain position when the reserve tank 200 is fixed to the vehicle body with the bracket 300, because the fixing piece 230 and the locking claw 240 are formed at different positions in a side view and not formed on the same plane.
In addition, there is a problem in that a whole shape of the bracket becomes complicated because it is necessary for the bracket 300 to be formed to be fit shapes of the locking claw 240 and the coupler part 250 because the locking claw 240 and the 250 of a reserve tank 200 (see FIG. 9) are formed on a lower surface part of the tank body 210.
In addition, the bracket 300 has such a structure that the reserve tank 200 is placed on the mounting part 310 to support a weight of the reserve tank 200 by a whole of the mounting part 310, so that there is a problem in that the mounting part 310 has a wide area, and the whole of the bracket 3 become large.